James C. Nance Memorial Bridge(bridge between Purcell and Lexington) Closed

[Snowman]

Perhaps my logic is off (it often is) but let's look at this. The old weight limit was 40 tons; the new limit is 36 tons. Rather than driving the forty-ton truck to Norman to cross the river why not load the truck to 36 tons and make more trips. I know, I know, the weight of the truck keeps it from being a simple ten trips v. nine trips, but there has to a break-even point and I suspect the drivers are missing it. Do the math guys. I, too, understand the new weight limit is a pain but there just might be a better solution than driving to Norman. Best wishes.

The truck empty will be at least half the weight the bridge can handle, so the percentage is going to be worse than a 9:10 ratio.

[ljbab728]

The replacement bridge project has been moved up.

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/5340108?embargo=1

Work to replace the beleaguered Purcell-Lexington bridge has been moved up to fiscal year 2018 under an ambitious eight-year work plan adopted Monday by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission.



The eight-year plan includes 1,947 projects that are expected to cost about $6.3 billion.

[macfoucin]

Update Same crossing - The Purcell Register : News

The time line calls for construction to start in 2018, with completion in 18 months.

The roadway will consist of four 12-foot lanes, 8-foot shoulders and a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side.
A barrier will separate the sidewalk from vehicle traffic.
Estimated cost of the new bridge will be $43.6 million.

there will be no road closure during the construction.

[tfvc.org]

There is scuttlebutt that the moneys used for this bridge is going to be diverted from the 77 construction from Noble to Lex after the curve part is complete. Don't know if the source is reliable, so trying to find out if this is true or not.

[macfoucin]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/njcz0ool4l...%20v1.mp4?dl=0

Making progress on the new bridge. Video was taken from a FB share, not sure who shot it.

[macfoucin]

Old bridge to Lexington is closed and half of the new lanes are open.
http://www.purcellregister.com/news/...14000f8ff.html

[macfoucin]

Grand opening of the bridge is on 7/26.
https://www.ok.gov/odot/Purcell_Lexi...e_project.html

[macfoucin]

Resurfacing portions of the bridge.
https://kfor.com/news/local/resurfac...lahoma-bridge/
https://www.ok.gov/triton/modules/ne...ticle_id=56260

[Jon Newhouse]

2019 Grand Opening of US 77 James C. Nance Memorial Bridge
In 2019, the US 77 Purcell/Lexington James C. Nance bridge was re-opened by Oklahoma Department of Transportation [3] According to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, "History was made Friday July 26, 2019 in Purcell and Lexington, just as it was more than 80 years ago when the two cities celebrated the grand opening of a new bridge connecting their communities. The new US 77 Purcell/Lexington James C. Nance Bridge that links the cities, located less than one mile apart, fully opened to traffic with much fanfare on Friday, July 26, 2019, the culmination of a major two-year, expedited reconstruction project." [3] The 2 lane state owned bridge built in 1938 was the first bridge in the area to be on the list of state highways in Oklahoma and installed at the site by Oklahoma Department of Transportation and replaced a bridge in nearby vicinity within several blocks north which was a 1 lane privately owned toll bridge built in 1911, which in turn had replaced a wooden constructed 1 lane Cleveland County bridge over the river, according to historic records.




2017-2019 Reconstruction of US 77 James C. Nance Memorial Bridge
The two year project to build the bridge in 2 sections used 20,000 Cubic Yards of Concrete, 6 million pounds of rebar and is 3,726 feet long taking 325,000 man hours to build at a cost $38 million. The project met with numerous challenges including inclement weather and local protected wildlife living on or under the historical bridge and delayed work. The bridge project was finished 5 months early. [5]

The US 77 James C. Nance Bridge connecting Purcell and Lexington was originally built as a circa 1938 deck truss two-lane bridge and in 2019 rebuilt as a concrete pier four-lane bridge [3] crossing the Canadian River between Purcell and Lexington, Oklahoma. The bridge carries U.S. Route 77 (US-77) and Oklahoma State Highway 39 (SH-39) from McClain County to Cleveland County. The bridge is named for James C. Nance, longtime community newspaper chain publisher and Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate and member of U.S Uniform Law Commission.

The Nance bridge allows travel time from Purcell (west side of the Canadian river) to Lexingon (East side of the river) to be only 3 minutes by car, according to google maps. When the bridge was closed (Emergency Closure, below), the same trip was 43 minutes when re-routed North to the nearest bridge, or 1 hour and 4 minutes when re-routed Southeast to the nearest bridge.

The 1938 construction of this bridge enabled communities from West and Southwest (Byars, Cole, Dibble, Paoli, Pauls Valley, Purcell, Rosedale, and Wayne) side of the river to reach the communities on the East side of the river (Lexington, Slaughterville, and Wanette). Traffic using the bridge allows trade and commerce to freely flow in this retail trade area of southern McClain County, southern Cleveland County, Southern Pottawatomie County, and northern area of Garvin County, and eastern portion of Grady county. The 2019 rebuilt bridge features the same design elements with concrete post and original circa 1938 design wrought iron railings.[3]


Contents
1 Municipal Water Source
2 Historical Notes
3 2019 Grand Opening
4 2017-2019 Reconstruction
5 See also
6 References
Municipal Water Source
In 1982, the James C. Nance bridge was structurally reinforced and a large elevated pipeline was attached underneath to carry the bulk of Purcell's water supply which comes from deep water wells that tap into an aquifer east of Lexington.

Historical Notes
The Nance bridge, named by House Joint Resolution 525, Okla. Session Laws 1967, pg. 709; 69 O.S. 1981, Section 1612 to enable the State Highway Commission name the Purcell/Lexington US-77/SH-39 bridge the James C. Nance Bridge, to honor his legislative service, as OK title 69, Chapter 1, Article 16 Section 1612 established the James C. Nance Bridge which is 1,110.1 meters[2] (3,642 ft) long, making it among the longest in the state.[4]

The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on 09-02-2003.[2][1]